J. Michael Ferraro
Information
UCLA, Los Angeles, CA
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, CA
General Information
Although I was born on the east coast of the United States, I have moved so often the earth itself is my home. I have lived in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South America and have traveled to over 40 countries of the world. I currently live in Los Angeles where I expect to stay forever. The city is huge and dynamic and the perfect place for an artist to thrive.
Statement/Mission
The experiences we have and the connections we form as human beings with the world around us define who we are. Because we can never fully, truly know what each other is thinking and feeling we are constantly reminded of our individuality, isolated in our own minds seeing the world only from our own perspective.
I spent the majority of my life moving around the world because of my father’s profession and ultimately find that I call earth itself my home for lack of a connection to any one particular place or person on earth. The identity I preserve, therefore, is in the reality of the individual experiences I have and a motivation to identify and connect with the world around me from a perspective external to myself.
It is that unique point of view that allows me to represent and honor a subject’s point of view in my work in a way that a viewer can relate to, connect with, and understand. In an attempt to represent emotion, presence and reality, and to capture more than just a visual moment in time, the artwork is developed from the subject’s point of view allowing a viewer to feel organically present with that subject.
Further, in an age where we understand so much about our world and the line between science and religion becomes increasingly gray, we understand more about our humanity and our identity among the natural world around us.
News/Notes
The dichotomy of humanity is such that we are natural beings that, to our benefit or demise, produce an unnatural effect on our world. We often view ourselves as natural beings, as part of nature and as unpredictable as nature, yet we can’t help but identify our individual impact on the natural world itself. For the first time in history, the masses have begun to see that the progress that most humans tend towards in modern society can actually lead to negative social and environmental results. The portrayal of a benevolent and equally devastating footprint irreversibly imposed on our natural environment seems as easy as observing the artifacts of humanity in the world around us.
In a balanced universe of good and evil, days and nights, happiness and sadness, we can only wonder how the universe will balance an unnatural human footprint…and it is this balance that I portray in my work allowing the viewer to feel the impactful contrast and inherent struggle between the natural and unnatural world.
Featured Artwork
Affiliated Artists
Current/Past Exhibitions
Pancakes & Booze Art Show #9, December 19, 2009
Hangar Gallery, Santa Monica Art Studios, November 2009
Brew 'n Beans, September 2008
Rox, September 2007
